


Morphine

by SanaVenus



Series: Apartment AU [8]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3157379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SanaVenus/pseuds/SanaVenus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Apartment complex is in danger but that's not the main problem for the inhabitants</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble is brewing in Paradise

Ren was taking Kuro on their usual walk; he had to get a few things for Tae so he had planned to get them on his way back, however as usual he spotted a pair of blonde men. Appearance wise they could have been related even their clothes matched.

Ren had noticed them observing the apartment complex a few times, and this time it seemed their eyes had strayed to him as he was leaving. With his friendliest smile he approached the pair. 

“I’ve seen you around a bit, are you interested in the apartments?” Ren asked the pair cheerfully. 

They looked at each other in a bit of confusion, Ren was almost afraid they didn’t understand him.   
“Yes something like that, do you live there?” The smaller of the two asked, Ren nodded. 

“Yeah, my grandma owns the complex. We’ve been full up for a while but there are some vacancies right now if you’re interested. I can take you see her if you’d like.” Ren explained. 

The blondes were still at a loss with the male, “That’d be huge help to us…?” The male replied,   
“Ah, I’m Ren Seragaki. Nice to meet you,” Ren said introducing himself.

“Virus,” replied the one who’d done the most speaking. 

“Trip.” 

Ren lead the pair back with him to the complex. 

He knocked on Tae’s door and then let himself in. Tae was a little confused to see Ren back so soon and empty handed. However her face grew stern as she saw Virus and Trip behind him. Doing her best not to alarm Ren, Tae speaks calmly, “Ren, why don’t you go finish Kuro’s walk?” Ren nods and slips back out of the room with Kuro in tow. 

“What are you both doing here? I already told Toue.” Tae asked, 

“Yeah we know, we were told to send your customers elsewhere, we got rid of the ones we could but this last lot is really hanging on.” Virus explained. 

Tae had pretty much assumed as much, with her renters moving out over the last few weeks, she had figured that Toue was probably behind it. 

“Well I’m not selling, and I don’t think you’ll convince the others to do anything about it either.” Tae replied firmly. 

“We figured you’d say that, so we have an exchange for you. We’ll stop harassing you and your customers in exchange for…” Virus started he paused leaving Tae nervous. 

She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, more so because it’d been Ren who had led them in. 

“Toue wants your grandkids. All three of them,” Trip finished. 

“That’s absurd!” Tae snapped. 

“Grandkids or the Apartment complex, those are your options.” Virus repeated.   
“Ah… Although I think Toue is actually more interested in the kids, so I wouldn’t expect this to be over.” Trip mentioned as an afterthought. 

Tae had figured as much, she knew that one day Toue would try to reach out for the boys. She had just hoped they’d be more prepared than they were. None of them knew about any of this. She realised she’d have to explain it to them, the sooner the better. 

“We’ll head back for now, but you should expect us back soon.” Virus stated as he headed out the door with Trip following behind him. 

Returning to where they were earlier to retrieve their car, getting into the front they hear rustling behind them. 

“Damn that was freaky; I wasn’t expecting to run into him here, I mean of all the people to run into here why him?” a male grumbled from the back seat. “Eh? We’re leaving? Already?” 

“Yeah we’ll be back soon though so you’ll get to hang out with them later.” Trip informed the male. 

The male frowned, “I don’t want to hang out with them.”


	2. The Seragaki Origin Story

Tae spent the time until Ren returned to the room with the shopping, quietly contemplating her next move. She’d managed to keep the boys out of Toue’s hands for most of their lives but now that he’d found them, or at least finally acted against them, she realised it would be hard to simple hide them again. 

She decided she’d have to explain it to them, maybe even to all of them, the last stragglers in the complex she considered almost family, some of them had grown up here, some of them had just appeared out of the blue and found their way into the family. As their landlady she owed them an explanation or warning in case of the harassment that was sure to follow. Of course she’d let them make up their own minds, she wouldn’t force any of them to stay, not when she felt like running off back into hiding herself. 

“Ren, go and fetch the others, we need to talk about something.” Tae explained, Ren tilted his head a little confused. 

“The others? Sei and Aoba?” Ren asked.

“All of them, get everyone.” Tae restated. Ren nodded and headed back out dropping by Clear first to leave Kuro in the room.

Several minutes later the whole group was squeezed into a room which no one had expected would hold them all. Aoba, Sei, Ren and Tae sat at the table, while Mink and Clear hovered in the corners. Noiz was sat on the counter he’d been scolded for that before but Tae seemed to let it slip this time. Koujaku and Mizuki were leaning across the back wall of the room. Everyone was antsy as no one knew why they were here; the general consensus was that the complex was shutting down. 

“Firstly I’d like to thank everyone for coming,” Tae begun there was a mumble of acknowledgement and she continued, “I’m sure you noticed most of the inhabitants have moved out recently, this is because some thugs have been talking people out of staying. They’re supposedly after this plot of land; I won’t ask you to stay, only to be careful. I don’t know how far they’re willing to go.” Tae explained. The group nodded taking in the statement. 

“That however isn’t the main issue.” Tae continued, this caused another halt in the mumbling that had begun to start up. Her eyes focused on the trio at the table. 

“You three appear to be their main target.” Tae explained, there was a general grumbling from the back, and the faces around the room darkened. The trio were obviously confused, Sei less than the others. 

“A long time ago… I stole you from a lab, all three of you, although not together. I was working there, researching something. When I found out the purpose and result of my research I couldn’t work there any longer… It was sheer luck that I was able to get you both. I ran off with you both and hid out for a while. An old work friend reached out to me two years later saying another baby had been made from the research, unlike before there wasn’t an easy way to get to you, however my work friend had also decided to leave the project so he was the one to bring you to me,” Tae explained, during the conversation she glanced over to Clear who was quietly listening with a stern expression as he tried to mimic the one Mink had. 

“Wait what? You found us? We’re the result of research?” Aoba asked he was understandably confused; Sei seemed to keep a neutral expression and Ren was as confused looking as Aoba but he was considerably quieter.   
“Unfortunately, that isn’t the worst part.” Tae continued. Aoba rested his head on the table with a light thud. Sei gently patted his brother’s back in comfort. 

“A part of the research was mind control, how to manipulate another person. Toue wanted this power for himself; you were created with that power. I suspect he wants to find the source of the power that’s in you and learn how to make it his own, and how to use it. The power is called scrap, using your voice Aoba you can influence others, Sei for you it works differently…” 

“It’s my eyes. When I make eye contact I can control them…” Sei explained quietly. 

Tae fell silent for a moment surprised and caught off guard by Sei, Aoba was mumbling to himself as if things started to make sense to him. Ren tilted his head confused, he looked at Tae expectantly.

“Ah, I’m not sure exactly how your scrap manifests… Since there was only one of you it’s possible it could be both. Ren, tell me if you start to show any signs.” Tae finished. Ren nodded and tried to think if any of his past actions could be seen as mind control. “Ren, you need to be careful, especially since those thugs have seen you now. You probably shouldn’t go out alone with Kuro anymore. Also you were made after the others so it’s likely if they made any progress in the project you’re slightly different to your brothers, I can’t say anything for sure since I never saw any of the information and data.” Tae explained. Ren nodded again and felt the intense stare of Clear on the back of his head, obviously the male thought this would be a brilliant excuse to walk Kuro together. 

The group dispersed in their usual pairs, Koujaku and Mizuki checking up on the brothers to make sure they were okay. Ren remained seated quietly. “I thought they seemed like nice people…” Ren said with a light sigh. Tae laughed gently. 

“You always see the good in everyone, much like that dog of yours. You need to be a little more aware that, that isn’t often the case.” Tae started, Ren looked down disappointed. “Although as long as you’re careful there’s no real harm in hoping, who knows maybe you’re right.” Tae smiled putting a comforting hand on his shoulder then heading to another room. 

Ren headed back out and towards his own room where Clear was waiting for him with a smiling face. He figured the other two were seeking comfort from their lovers and he looked at Clear as if trying to make up his mind, “Ah… you can play with my hair if you want, we can sit and watch a movie with Kuro or something…” Ren suggested, Clear’s face lit up. 

Ren sat with his head resting awkwardly on Clear’s lap; he wasn’t overly fond of this sort of thing but with the thought of people after him outside, for the scary ability he might be able to use, having Clear close by was a real comfort, even if he did tug and put knots in his painfully sensitive hair. 

“What do you want to do about Kuro’s evening walk? I can do it alone if you’d like.” Clear suggested moving his hair through Ren’s hair softly; he was being surprisingly gentle tonight. 

“Let’s go together, we can get a take out to eat or something.” Ren mumbled sleepily. The sensation of Clear playing with his hair was almost sending him to sleep. Kuro was curled up on his chest snoring. 

After the movie finished Clear remained seated quietly as the other two slept soundly. 

When it was time to take Kuro out Ren stirred at the feeling of Kuro get up and Clear moving from underneath him, “Ah sorry did we wake you? I was going to let you sleep for a while…” Clear explained. Ren sat up and touched his hair, it was plaited. 

“It’s fine, I’m up now so we can go together.” Ren replied with a yawn. Clear nodded and put Kuro’s leash on and the pair headed out. 

It was dark out and Clear was insisting that Ren hold his hand so he can be sure he is safe, at first Ren snickered and objected to the idea but after they heard rustling nearby Ren quickly grabbed Clear’s hand. 

As they were heading towards their usual stop for Chinese take-out they heard footsteps nearby. The pair got confused as he approached he seemed oddly familiar.

“Hey, it’s been a while. Brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly sorry if any of the scrap information is wrong.   
> Secondly, Haruka and Nain are not mentioned, sorry. They probably cooed over the kids and then left.   
> Tae's work friend is implied to be Clear's Grandfather if you did not already get that.   
> Also because I've managed to avoid describing any of them since you know how they look, I'd like to inform you Ren has hair like Aoba but it's the same colour as Sei!Ren's hair.


	3. Shades of Scrap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is really short. I'm going to try and get the next bit up soon.   
> This was delayed thanks to me being stuck gaming for ages.

Both Ren and Clear were anxious at the male glaring at them. Overall he was familiar, but the expression was one they’d never seen on that face. 

“No need to be so confused, it’s been a while since we last saw each other, there’s no reason you would remember. Ren,” The male explained. His eyes were cold versions of Ren’s own, “I really wasn’t expecting to run into you here, they must have raised you to be stupid or something.” The male said with a laugh. 

Ren squeezed Clear’s hand, everything about this person screamed how wrong he was and to run back to the apartments, but Ren didn’t want to run. 

“You’re pretty lucky though, if you come with us nice and easy, you’ll be able to live pretty free like me, unlike those other two. It’s unlikely… they’re older models, they’re not needed.” The male explained. 

“M-Models? That’s not true; Ren and the others aren’t robots. Ren isn’t an upgraded version, Ren is Ren.” Clear snapped startling Ren and the other male. 

“Ah… Right you’re that aren’t you. Sorry maybe I should have used a different words, wouldn’t want to upset your poor little android friend there.” The male said with another bark of laughter. 

Ren, confused looked over at Clear who seemed to be hurt by the male’s accusations. Ren squeezed his hand again and Clear met his eyes. Ren was pretty sure he heard the other male make a fake gag noise. 

“God get a room, actually don’t, just cut it out, we’re talking.” The male stated, he was upset by the display of affection. Regaining his evil demeanour the male went back on the attack. “Ugh as much as I don’t like that thing, I suppose if you join us now I can ask Toue to let you keep him. The other two are probably out of the question though; we need them to get stronger! Ren if you come with me now, we can make the world our own! No one could even dream of stopping us!” The male explained holding out his hand to Ren.

Ren felt like he wanted to take the male’s hand even though every part of him also wanted to not take his hand. 

“Ren…” Clear started. Clear was clutching hold of Ren’s hands worried that he’d go over to the other male. 

Two more males came behind the male talking, the taller one seemed to tap the smallest on the head with his hand. “Oi! What was that for?!” The smallest male snapped.

“Sly, you wandered off again without permission.” The middle one started, he glanced over at Ren and Clear. “Ah I see you found him then.” 

“I was coming right back… I was hungry and there was nothing to eat…” 

“Did you introduce yourself yet?” The tallest asked. 

“Ah…” The smallest started, he turned to Ren with a smirk. Ren recognised the other two males as Virus and Trip from earlier. 

“I’m Sly Blue. We’re the latest… experiments of Toue’s. Next time we’re going to bring you back with us!” Sly explained. The trio left the pair speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that is the one and only Sly Blue!   
> Sly looks like Short haired Aoba. [Sly and Ren have their hair lengths swapped because I felt like it]   
> other than that he looks like teen Sly blue.


	4. The Recollection of an Android

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this isn't the next story related bit but if Ren and Clear were suddenly closer without this it'd be weird.  
> Plus this does come directly next in the timeline.  
> Sorry.  
> May or May not get the next bit up tonight. I'm working on it.

Ren wasn’t sure exactly how he got home, but when he finally regained all his senses and calmed down he was in his room silent with Clear. It felt like there was a lot for them to talk about but Ren had other issues on his mind, Clear would unfortunately have to wait. 

“We need to tell Tae…” Ren said breaking the silence. “Ah… I suppose it could wait until tomorrow...” He finished, glancing over at Clear noticing the male was more solemn than usual, maybe Clear couldn’t wait after all. 

“So… You used to work for Toue?” Ren asked kicking himself for being so blunt. Clear clenched his hands together. 

“Toue made me, or had me made… My grandfather worked for him,” Clear explained, he didn’t seem to want to make eye contact. “I suppose by Sly Blue’s standards I’d be an older model waiting to be replaced…” Clear continued. 

Ren continued to quietly listen, Kuro was lay at their feet, listening. 

“I was faulty or something like that, so I was going to be thrown out, or used for scrap materials. However grandfather saved me and planned to leave the research lab with me, like one of his previous work colleagues had done two years prior.” Clear explained he glanced over to Ren who seemed to have realised where this was going. 

“It’s my fault Sly wasn’t saved…” Clear started, “If we’d gone sooner, maybe we would have found you both… Or later… If it wasn’t broken… If I wasn’t about to be scrapped we could have saved both of you…” 

Ren reached out to take Clear’s hand. “If you weren’t broken, I might not have been saved either.” Ren replied. 

“I was quite curious with your tiny form when we first met, I’d never seen a baby before. So I was quite glad when Grandfather allowed me to carry you.” Clear said with a light smile. “However I only seemed to cause you pain as you cried when I held you.” Clear sighed, “I thought perhaps it was my mask, but when we were waiting for Tae I realised it might have been your hair…” 

Ren let out a heavy sigh, “So you’ve always liked pulling my hair then…” 

“While we waiting I was able to master playing with your hair though!” Clear said cheerfully. Ren was sceptical. 

“Ah, something else I didn’t understand for a while was that although I remembered you, you never seemed to remember me. You also didn’t like it when I touched your hair… I’m always realising the ways that we’re different…” Clear said softly. 

Ren rested his head on Clear’s shoulder, still holding onto his hand. 

“In that case, maybe we should try to make more memories, for the both of us.”


	5. Sly Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to know why these chapters are short and getting us nowhere...  
> The reason is I have no idea how what happens, I only know what happens.  
> Help and suggestions would be fantastic because plotting this middle bit out is painfully hard.  
> Especially when I have a backlog of fluff I want to write that isn't relevant to this plot.
> 
> Also apologies for the title of chapter, if anyone has a better idea, leave a comment please.

The next morning Ren woke to find Clear making breakfast, this was something that was becoming more normal to Ren. Clear always woke up first and usually made something for Ren to eat, the first time had been a little traumatic but now that Clear wore clothes under his apron it wasn’t so bad. 

“We should really go and tell Tae about Sly.” Ren said with a sigh, flopping down onto a chair and resting his head on the table on his folded arms, looking over at Clear. Ren glanced at the wall clock, when Clear turned to face him. 

“Ah I already took Kuro for his walk, I thought it would save time and it’d be better if you didn’t go out, at least until after we tell the others…” Clear stated. Ren nodded, he was slightly disappointed; he enjoyed his morning walks with Kuro the most, however with the current situation he didn’t feel like going out alone for a while, especially without Clear or his brothers.

The pair headed downstairs to Tae once they’d finished eating. “Ren, there isn’t much point of you coming over, I can’t have you run any of your usual errands anyway, Koujaku volunteered to take over for you though.” Tae explained. Ren nodded, and fidgeted with his hands restlessly. 

“What’s wrong?” Tae asked, not sure she really wanted the answer.

“We went out to walk Kuro last night, Clear and I… We ran into…” Ren paused to collect his thoughts, he still wasn’t sure how exactly to explain him. “Tae… I don’t think I was alone when Clear rescued me… I met him, my twin.” Ren explained. 

Tae was took a seat and offered the others to sit with her, Ren took her up on the offer however Clear remained stood and avoided eye contact with the pair, still feeling guilty for not finding Sly. 

“So there was another one… I suppose that makes more sense…” Tae said finally with a heavy sigh. 

“He apparently was trained to use his Scrap. He’s working with those blonde twins I brought the other time… They want to use Aoba and Sei to advance their research and Sly’s power…” Ren explained, he looked down at his hands unsettled. “He asked me to work with him. He wants me to use my brothers to become strong…” 

Tae remained quiet after Ren finished, focusing on the table rather than her grandson. Ren looked over at her, “We need to save him. I… I want to bring Sly home.” Ren explained, surprising both Clear and Tae momentarily. 

“Ren… I don’t want to disappoint you but… There might not be much we can to save him. He might not even want to be saved.” Tae explained. Ren frowned.

“He wants to… He wants us to be close. I’m sure of it! So… I want to save him… I want to at least try.” Ren replied. 

Clear spoke for the first time, looking at Ren and Tae with a determined look in his eyes. “I want to help too. I…If we had come sooner… been later… Sly might not have been left. It’s partly my fault that Sly was left behind so I want to do whatever I can to help too.” 

Tae let out a soft sigh, “Don’t get into too much trouble. If you feel that strongly about it though… Do what you can, I’m sure the others will help where they can.”


	6. Virus and Trips Sly Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that didn't take quite as long as expected to get the plot together.   
> Mega thanks to my friend who knows who she is, who helps me plot these out. [or at least gives me a good sounding board for me to chuck ideas at]

Pretty much right after dragging him home Sly wasn't himself. Since the beginning of the plan to take the Seragakis Virus and Trip had noticed Sly wasn't acting quite the same as usual. After they’d run into Ren and he’d missed out, they’d seen the boy slink into a slump. 

After Sly had finally met face to face and spoken to Ren, Sly had completely changed. It had taken right up until the meeting with Ren for the two blondes to finally figure out what had been bothering their smaller companion. 

“So you’re dead set on having Ren join us then?” Trip mentioned as he watched the younger male mope around. He was trying to pretend it wasn’t bothering him, even the Alphas had somehow picked up that something was up. They had cared less the Virus and Trip but had asked for whatever reason. Since then Sly was had been doing his best; despite failing; to act as normal as possible. 

“Well yeah, isn’t it better if we have two guys who can use Scrap? Obviously the other one should be Ren because he was made along with me right? That means he’s better than the other two.” Sly explained. 

The non-twins couldn’t fault the boy’s logic, even if they were certain he had probably spent ages thinking up a fake reason for wanting Ren to be with them. 

They’d been drawn to Ren as well, although for different reasons to Sly. Ren reminded them of Sly a long time ago, while they were very partial to Sly they weren’t against turning Ren into something similar. 

“I know you said you’d let him keep his boyfriend but it might be more counterproductive then helpful. He’s not going to side with Toue as long as he has that Robot.” Virus interjected from the sofa a little further away from the other two males. 

Sly frowned at Virus’ comment, “He looks too soft, no way would he come if we did something to his robot.” Sly sat up suddenly from where he was lay on the bed. “Couldn’t one of the Alphas reprogram him or something? If we won him over then Ren would just follow along most likely.” Sly suggested thinking he’d hit a stroke of brilliance. 

“You’d have to check it over with them, but wouldn’t Ren hate you if you broke his robot?” Trip asked lazily looking over at the other male. He was lounging against the headboard and pillows. Sly looked disappointed realising that Trip was unfortunately most likely correct. 

“I could blame Toue or you guys,” Sly replied thinking about it a little more. 

“If you blamed Toue for it Ren probably still wouldn’t join us. Unless you told him there was a way to get him back, but you’d have to eventually give in and it’s possible he’d just run off after that.” Virus stated.

Sly flopped back down onto his chest, he was running out of ideas. He needed his brother to join him, but he couldn’t come up with a decent reason why.

“What about you? Why are you still here? Why didn't you run off at the first sign of your brothers? Surely they’d have taken you in.” Virus said stirring the thought in Sly’s head. 

Why was he here? Why had he decided to stay? Sly glanced casually to Trip and then to Virus, they were both pretty good reasons to not go, for the good and the bad. He sat their quietly for a while why the non-twins smiled at each other. 

“I don’t know.” Sly answered quietly sounding confused. 

“Maybe we should go then. It’s not like this place is giving us much, right Trip?” Virus said with a small smile.

“I can think of places I’d rather be.” Trip replied.

“So Sly. If you want to leave. We can all leave.” Virus explained. Sly sat up staring at the male. 

“Let’s go see your brothers.”


	7. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to inform you all that I have a lovely piece written for NoiSei which will be put up after this is finished.  
> Chapter 8 should be the last segment in this Arc of the story.

It takes the non-twins some time to get organised, but when the day arrives two weeks after the initial encounter with Ren, Sly probably couldn’t have been happier. The non-twins were content with their results; Sly hadn’t been in this much of a good mood in months. 

After Sly’s good mood had been taken advantage of, the trio set their plan into motion and that evening Sly was standing at the bottom of the Apartment complex. 

Sly against the non-twins suggestions decide not to go for Tae’s room. However as they were standing around trying to decide what to do next; a sharp gasp catches their attention. 

“What are you doing here?” Clear demanded, Ren appeared less hostile than his companion. 

Sly was struggling with his words when the non-twins spoke up. 

“We’re entrusting this to you.” Trip started giving Sly an unexpected nudge towards Ren. 

“We have some important unfinished business to take care of, so until then keep an eye on him.” Virus finished, 

“What the hell guys?! You didn’t say anything like that to me, what’s so important.” Sly demanded turning back to the non-twins. 

The pair looked to each other with a smirk then back to Sly with a more solemn expression. 

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be back before you even notice. Just use this as time to bond with your brothers. You know you wouldn’t if we were around.” Trip explained. 

Sly frowned at the pair however there wasn’t anything he could do to stop them. 

With those words the non-twins ruffle Sly’s hair and pat his shoulder then left without leaving them anyway to reach them. 

“Ah lets go see Tae?” Ren suggested confused as to what was going on. Sly nodded slightly unsure he was up for this now. 

The trio along with Kuro, who was very interested in Sly, headed to Tae’s room. 

She initially didn’t react well to see Sly in front of her; a mix of doubt and guilt overflowing her thoughts. “What’s he doing here?” Tae asked. 

“Actually we’re still trying to figure that out,” Ren explained, he turned to Sly expectantly. 

Sly was surprisingly nervous to speak to the group. He fidgeted with clothes as he tried to find his words. “I wanted Ren more than I wanted power…” Sly mumbled startling the others Clear moved defensively between the pair much to their disappointment. 

“I… After thinking about it, I didn’t have a reason to stay with Toue. I mean I was kind of stuck there I guess, but they asked me if I wanted to leave…” Sly explained, “I realised this was the best way to get Ren…” 

“After getting Ren, what are your plans?” Tae asked coldly,   
Sly was quiet for a while and in deep thought, “How am I supposed to know? I haven’t planned my life out.” Sly replied. 

“So you’re not returning to Toue.” Tae asked. 

“If you let me stay here, why would I want to? I had two baby-sitters at all times. If I’m here, I even get to pick my own take outs.” Sly explained. 

Tae let out a soft sigh; this wasn’t exactly how she imagined her meeting with Sly was going to go. 

“Those blonde guys said they’d be back for him…” Clear mentioned, Tae returned to looking stern. 

“Ah, yeah I’m not convinced.” Sly said with a heavy sigh and a shrug of his shoulders, “I swear half the time I have no idea what goes through their heads, and I’ve known them all my life.” 

“So you really don’t know what they went to take care of?” Ren asked curiously. 

“No idea, those two are in a world of their own sometimes.” Sly replied. 

“Thanks to your efforts there’s a lot of empty spaces here, so I’m sure we can set you up with a room even if it’s only temporary.” Tae said thinking maybe it’d be best to have him close by to keep an eye on. “Ren why don’t you take him round and let him pick one he likes; take him round the others while you’re at it.” 

It takes the boys a little while before Sly finally makes up his mind and declares a room his own, Ren smiled slightly because it’s one of the bigger ones so he assumes Sly picked it because he’s hoping the non-twins will return to fill up some of the space in the room. 

Next it’s time to take him around the rooms. They start with Aoba and Mink because it’s the closest. 

Mink is the one to open the door and he stands there silently until Aoba comes and slips under his arm to find out what’s going on then he pauses as well. 

Clear laughed at the male’s reactions, “It’s weird right? He looks somewhere between Aoba and Ren,” he stated. Aoba and Ren stared intently at the male trying to decide whether Clear was right or not. 

“He looks more like Ren, so that means he’s Ren’s twin right?” Aoba asks, Ren and Sly nod which only makes the older male smile more. 

“I thought he was working for Toue…” Mink interjected. 

“Technically Toue was more like my landlord, or father or something more like that. I don’t work for him. I just didn’t have anywhere else to go.” Sly explained. 

Their conversation went on a short while before the group moved onto the next room; luckily Mizuki was hanging out in Koujaku’s room as usual. They hadn’t told anyone they were together, but everyone already knew. With the amount of time they spent in each other’s room they could do what Mink and Aoba did and merge the two rooms. 

They didn’t spend long with the pair, not wanting to intrude on their time together. 

Next was Noiz’s room. Noiz didn’t seem to react much initial to meeting sly however he did invite the group into the room, which they quickly noticed was too cold. Ren tended to the heating while Clear introduced Sly. 

If it wasn’t already a known fact to everyone in the apartment that Noiz had issues on his mind, it was evident in the lack of interest he was taking with Sly. His interest picked up when Ren returned and started to tell him the things he wanted to hear. 

“Sly’s actually got a handle of his scrap, right? You could probably teach us how it works?” Ren explained. 

Sly nodded, “Yeah I’ve been training since it first developed so I’ve pretty much got it down nicely, why?” 

Ren debated about answering it here, “I’ll explain it later.” Noiz seemed to already be acting much differently to how he’d been when they walked in. 

“We’re going to go see him next; I’ll let him know the news too.” Ren stated. 

The trio left shortly after and Sly was confused but he also wasn’t sure he actually cared. He figured he might do something if the motivation was good, or if Ren was going to get mad at him if he didn’t but he still wasn’t sure. 

The last stop on the tour was Sei’s room. Ren knocked and he heard Sei call him in faintly. He let the group inside. Sei’s room was dark and dreary. He didn’t have the curtains open and he didn’t have the lights on either. Ren turned the main light on and spotted Sei curled up on the sofa in front of the tv. The older male made an effort to smile at his brother and sat up but didn’t get to his feet. 

Ren sat down next to him while Clear took care of the build-up of dishes in the kitchen area. Kuro jumped up onto Sei’s lap to greet him as he always did. 

“Sei this is Sly, he’s my twin.” Ren explained, Sei looked up at the awkward Sly who looked really uncomfortable hanging around in the room. 

“Sly’s really good with his scrap, so he said he’d teach us how to use it properly.” Ren explained with a soft smile. 

For a moment Sly watched the light flicker back into Sei’s eyes, and the smile he offered the pair was genuine. Sly was suddenly invested in whatever scheme his younger twin was cooking up. He realised he wanted to keep that light in his brother’s eyes. For the first time in a while, and against all the thoughts he’d had previously. Sly realised he wanted to be here, and he wanted these people to be his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also by lovely NoiSei I do mean heartbreaking. It was super fun to write and I realised how much I miss writing that sort of thing. I hinted at it here, as the NoiSei thing takes place directly after the meeting with the whole apartment in Chapter 2.


	8. Fresh Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is the last part in this Ark! Meaning back to fluff. 
> 
> Well after we get the NoiSei Angst out of the way.

Sly spent the next two weeks mostly with Ren, some of the others had done their best to include Sly but the only ones he’d gotten attached to were Sei, Ren and just about Clear. He’d set out to like Ren, and Clear seemed to come with him like a bundle deal. Sei however just seemed to click with Sei. Sei still wasn’t acting as usual due to the events that unfolded after their ability of Scrap was revealed. Tae still hadn’t fully warmed up to Sly and he still hadn’t warmed up to her. 

Sly was in Sei’s room lounging around with his head on his older brother’s lap, they were between lessons Sei was getting more confident but still wasn’t fully in control. The pair heard footsteps race up the stairs to the door and they could hear the person panting before they even opened it. Without waiting to be let in Ren opened the door. The pair glanced over to their younger brother and Sly ushered him over. 

Ren shook his head and tried to get his breath back. “Sly! You need to come downstairs right now.” Ren exclaimed. Sly frowned and sat up. 

“Calm down, what’s so important? I was gonna have a nap.” Sly grumbled.

“They’re here.” Ren started, this got Sly to his feet, “Virus and Trip just arrived we ran into them on our way out. They’re in your room.” 

Before Ren had finished speaking Sly had already headed to the door, he looked slightly nervous but also excited. He wasn’t sure what their visit had in store for him. Maybe they were staying; maybe they were here to take him away again. Sly wasn’t sure what he’d do in that case, he enjoyed his brother’s company now, but he couldn’t stay away from Virus and Trip. 

Ren followed Sly downstairs, Sei would have but he didn’t feel up to leaving his room. Clear was stood anxiously outside of the room and Sly let himself in. 

“Hey,” Trip said catching sight of the male. Up until hearing his voice Sly had been holding onto Ren’s hand, this was something he’d become attached to doing. 

“Hey yourself, where the hell have you two been?! What gives, just dropping me off and running off like that?!” Sly snapped. The males were mildly confused by his behaviour but took it in their stride. 

“We told you, we had important things to take care of, you would have been bored if you’d come with us. We decided it’d be easier if we left you here to smooth things over so no one kicked up a fuss when we moved in,” Virus explained. 

That calmed Sly down. “Oh… You’re staying? For real?” 

“What? Would you rather we didn’t? I thought we all agreed together to leave Toue?” Virus said with a light smirk. 

“Ah no! That’s not what I meant. I just figured you guys weren’t coming back.” Sly replied.

“So you missed us then?” Trip asked. 

Ren was getting uncomfortable intruding on their reunion and gently tugged Sly’s sleeve. “I’m going to go tell Tae alright? I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sly turned to him and nodded and Ren hurried off leaving Clear waiting outside of the room with instructions to intervene if it seems like Sly needs help.   
After a short time Clear enters the room, “Tae said you’ll have to go down to her office to speak with her.” And after a little bit more discussion the four of them head down to meet Ren and Tae. 

Virus puts a document down on the table in front of Tae before she can speak. She hesitantly picks it up to look at it, her expression becoming more shocked the longer she reads it. Her expression turns stern as she looked over at the group.

“We took initiative and took care of anyone who wouldn’t agree, you don’t even have to show up more than once a month, maybe even get one of your lodgers to take control.” Virus explained. “We also brought you papers to rename it, but if you sign that it’s all yours.” 

Tae was speechless, she didn’t seem particularly happy either. She gathered her thoughts, “Why?” She asked. 

“Because this is a better option then what it was and we didn’t want to run it.” Trip explained. “Enjoy your new company.”


End file.
